Pedal-type door opener



Jan. 23, 1968 c. E. ERICKSON 3,364,621

PEDAL-TYPE DOOR OPENER Filed March 14, 1966 FIG. 1 fl Cliff rd E.Erickson Attorney United States Fatent Gfiice 3,354,621 Fates-tied Jan.23, 1968 3,364,621 PEDAL-TYPE DOQR GPENER d E, Erickson, Chicago, 113.,assignor to General ectric Company, a corporation of New York Filed Mar.14, 1966, Ser. No. 534,147 4 Claims. (El. 4s 2ss This invention relatesto door openers, and more particularly to the type of door openerwherein a pedal is depressed in order to unlatch the door of a cabinetor the like.

There are many instances where it is more convenient for a pedal to beoperated than for a door to be pulled open or for a handle to bemanipulated. This occurs fre quently in the case of domestic appliancessuch as, for instance, clothes dryers wherein a front opening door isprovided: both the position of the door, and the fact that the operatormay have both hands occupied, means that a pedal for opening the doorrepresents substantial added convenience.

As opposed to an ordinary handle on the door, a pedal represents, ofcourse, additional cost since necessarily the connection to the pedalmust be made, and the pedal must be properly mounted to the cabinet.Accordingly, it is important to minimize as much as possible the addedexpense represented by a pedal-operated door without, however, affectingeither the quality or operativeness of the product, or the solid feelingwhich an operator likes to have when using such a product.

It is, therefore, an object of my invention to provide an improvedpedal-operated door opening system wherein the operation is identical tothat provided by previous systerns but wherein the components may beprovided substantially more economically.

A further, more specific, object of my invention is to achieve sucheconomies by utilizing the spring means which biases the door unlatcbingmeans to provide the added function of biasing the pedal to an upwardposition, and by utilizing the relationship of the pedal to the base ofthe cabinet to achieve all the desired functions without extracomponents.

In one aspect thereof, my invention is for use in a cabinet of the typewhich has a base and a front wall with an opening therein, with a doorbeing releasably latched so as to close the opening. In order to unlatchthe door, there is a pedal positioned beneath the base so that its frontportion extends forwardly of the front Wall and may thus readily bedepressed by the foot of an operator. This pedal is secured to theunderside of the base by a clip which, extending up through an openingin the base, secures the back end of the pedal to the base. Preferably,the clip is S-shaped, with the lower part of the S securing the back endof the pedal and being open toward the front of the cabinet, the upperpart of the S being secured about the base and being closed toward thefront of the cabinet, and the center part of the S extending between thepedal and the base. A door-releasing mechanism positioned adjacent thedoor is movable between operative and inoperative positions by a linkwhich extends up through an opening in the base, being connected at itsbottom to the pedal intermediate the ends thereof and at its top to thedoorreleasing mechanism. The mechanism is biased by suitable springmeans to its inoperative position, and the spring means also biases thelink upwardly so as to cause the pedal to be held against the undersideof the base; as a result the pedal is held against the underside of thebase by the cooperation of the clip and the spring means. \Vhen thefront part of the pedal is depressed, the spring will yield so that thepedal can pivot downwardly about its rear edge, moving the link down andthus causing the door-releasin mechanism to assume its operativeposition.

The features of my invention which are believed to be novel are setforth with particularity in the appended claims. My invention itself,however, both as to organization and as to method of operation, togetherwith further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood byreference to the following detailed description taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a view in perspective of a cabinet in which the improvedpedal-type door opening mechanism of my invention is incorporated.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational view incross-section of the portion of the cabinet of FIG- URE 1 incorporatingthe pedal portion of my invention;

FIGURE 3 is a view along line 33 in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a view along line 4-4 in FEGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is a view along line 55 in FIGURE 3; and

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged fragmentary view in perspective of thedoor-opening mechanism shown in FIGURE 1.

Referring now to FIGURE 1 of the drawing, there is shown a cabinet,generally indicated by the numeral 1, of the type in which my inventionmay advantageously be incorporated. The cabinet shown is representativeof a conventional cabinet for tumbler-type clothes dryers of thedomestic type, but it is to be understood that this is merelyrepresentative of one advantageous type of use for my invention and isnot intended to be restrictive.

Cabinet 1 is formed by suitable walls including particularly a frontwall 2 in which an opening 3 is provided for access to the interior ofthe cabinet. Opening 3 may be closed by a suitable door 4 havingconventional hinges 5, and which may be latched as shown in FIGURE 6 inany suitable manner; for instance, there may be a projecting latchportion 5 which is frictionally engaged between two spring-loadedrollers when the door is in closed position.

The door may be opened by pivoting motion of a door opening member 8from the position shown in FIGURE 6 in a clockwise direction (as viewedin the fig re) about its pivot pin 9. Pin 9 is secured to extend from asuppor structure It? mounted on the cabinet by any suitable means suchas, for instance, by screws (not shown). Member 8 is biased to theposition shown by a spring 11 which has its lower end 12 hooked to themember 8 and its upper end 13 secured in the support structure it A slot14 is provided in member 8 and the upper end 15 of a link member 16whichmay be formed of heavy, rigid wireis secured to extend through slot 14.It can readily be seen that when link 16 is moved down it causesclockwise pivoting of a member 8 about pin 9. As a result of thispivoting, portion 17 of member 8 moves forwardly and pushes door 4outwardly so that latch projection 6 is released from the position shownand moves out be tween rollers 7 to a position where the door is freelyopen, as shown in FIGURE 1.

It can thus be seen that a relatively conventional dooropening structureis provided wherein an inoperative position is provided by the biasingaction of spring 11 and wherein this biasing action may be overcome bydownward movement of link 16 to close and open the door by disengagementof latch portion 6 from spring portions 7.

Referring now to FIGURES 2, 3 4- and 5 in conjunction with FIGURE 1, apedal member 17 has a front portion 18 extending forwardly of the lower.part 3.9 of front wall 2 so that an operator may depress it with herfoot, thereby to cause opening of door 4. Cabinet 1 has a base 20.Conventionally, the base is secured to the front, back, and sides of thecabinet. An opening 21 is provided adjacent the front of the base 20where it joins front wall 2 to allow for passage of the lower portion 22of link 16. The bottom of the link is formed into a horizontal loop 23,as best shown in FIGURE 3, and is welded to a small flat plate 24 whichfits beneath pedal 17 against the lower surface of the pedal. In thisconnection it will be understood that any substantial motion of plate24, other than vertically, is restricted by the side flange 25 providedat each side of the pedal, and by a downwardly extending tang 26 (FIGURE2) stamped out of the pedal at a position to the rear of wall 2 so thatit cannot be observed by the operator. With the loop 23 secured to plate24, and thus abutting the underside of pedal 17, the structure is heldin that relationship as a result of the upward pull exerted by spring 11on the link 1&3.

Somewhat farther back from the front wall 2, a pair of side-by-sideopenings 27 are provided in base Ztl. In conjunction with each opening27 a generally S-shaped spring clip member 28 is provided so that theupper loop 29 thereof extends through opening 27, with the upper part3%) extending along the top surface of base 120 and with the open partof the loop facing toward the rear of the cabinet. In a similar manner,the lower loop 31 of the S- shaped clip extends about the rear edge 32of pedal 17, with the open part of the loop facing toward the front ofthe cabinet. Preferably the lower loop 31 is formed so as to providesome free space, such as shown at 33, between part of the loop and thepedal, with the contact being made between the pedal and the lower partof the loop at 34. This provides additional resiliency in the lower partof the loop for a purpose which will appear herebelow. Preferably, boththe top loop and the bottom loop of the S-shaped clip may respectivelybe provided with sharp tangs 35 and 36 (FIGURE which bite into thematerial of the base 26 and of pedal 17 so that the securement of thespring clip to the base and the pedal is a strong one.

it will readily be seen at this time that, when pressure is applieddownwardly on the front 18 of pedal 17, the pedal will pivot downwardlyabout its back edge because clip 28 is holding the pedal to theunderside of base 2. As it does so, it carries with it link 16, and aspreviously explained this causes opening of the door. The shape of lowerloop 31 readily permits the movement of the pedal without excessivedeformation of the clip 28.

The downward movement of the pedal, with the construction described, isreadily limited simply by providing a laterally extending portion, inthe form of a bend 37, in link 16 just above the lower portion 22thereof, so that when the pedal has moved down the desired distance bend37 contacts the top surface of base 2%. Thus, the link itself acts as astop in conjunction with the base of the cabinet.

It will readily be seen that the desired pivotal securement of the pedalis effected simply by the very inexpensive clip structure shown. In thisconnection it will, of course, be understood that while two separateclips are shown, since they provide somewhat greater stability of thestructure, a single clip will also perform the desired function. It willfurther be observed that use is made of the relationship of the pedal tothe base of the cabinet, and to the door opening mechanism itself, inorder to achieve the various desired functions.

While in accordance with the patent statutes 1 have described what atpresent is considered to be the preferred embodiment of my invention, itwill be obvious to those 4 skilled in the art that various changes andmodifications may be made therein without departing from the invention,and it is therefore aimed in the appended claims to cover all suchequivalent variations as fall within the true spirit and scope of myinvention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:

1. For use with a cabinet having a base and a front wall with an openingtherein, wherein a door is releasably latched in a position to closesaid opening; means to unlatch the door comprising:

(a) a pedal positioned beneath said base and having a front portionextending forwardly of said front wall;

(b) a clip, extending through an opening in said base, securing the backend of said pedal to the underside of said base;

(c) a door-releasing mechanism positioned adjacent said door and havingoperative and inoperative positions;

(d) a link, extending up through an opening in said base, connected atits bottom to said pedal intermedi ate the ends thereof and at its topto said mechanism;

(6) spring means biasing said mechanism to its inoperative position andbiasing said link upwardly to cause said pedal to be held against theunderside of said base;

(f) said pedal pivoting downwardly about its rear edge in response topressure on the front end thereof, said downward movement of said pedalcausing said link to move down against the bias of said spring means,said downward movement of said link providing said operative position ofsaid door-releasing mechanism.

2. The structure defined in claim 1 wherein said clip is substantiallyS-shaped, the bottom loop of said clip being secured about the back edgeof said pedal and being open toward the front of said cabinet, the toppart of said clip being secured about said base and being open towardthe back of said cabinet, the center part of said clip being positionedbetween said base and said pedal.

3. The structure defined in claim 1 wherein said link has a laterallyextending portion normally positioned slightly above said base, saidlaterally projecting portion acting as a stop and engaging the uppersurface of said base after a predetermined amount of downward movementof said link when said pedal pivots downwardly.

4. The structure defined in claim 3 wherein said link is formed of arelatively thick piece of wire having a bend formed therein for saidlaterally projecting portion, the lower end of said link being formedinto a substantially horizontal loop beneath said pedal and being biasedup against the pedal by said spring means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 10/1917 Smith 49272 7/1938Herbster 49-263

1. FOR USE WITH A CABINET HAVING A BASE AND A FRONT WALL WITH AN OPENINGTHEREIN, WHEREIN A DOOR IS RELEASABLY LATCHED IN A POSITION TO CLOSESAID OPENING; MEANS TO UNLATCH THE DOOR COMPRISING: (A) A PEDALPOSITIONED BENEATH SAID BASE AND HAVING A FRONT PORTION EXTENDINGFORWARDLY OF SAID FRONT WALL; (B) A CLIP, EXTENDING THROUGH AN OPENINGIN SAID BASE, SECURING THE BACK END OF SAID PEDAL TO THE UNDERSIDE OFSAID BASE; (C) A DOOR-RELEASING MECHANISM POSITIONED ADJACENT SAID DOORAND HAVING OPERATIVE AND INOPERATIVE POSITIONS; (D) A LINK, EXTENDING UPTHROUGH AN OPENING IN SAID BASE, CONNECTED AT ITS BOTTOM TO SAID PEDALINTERMEDIATE THE ENDS THEREOF AND AT ITS TOP TO SAID MECHANISM; (E)SPRING MEANS BIASING SAID MECHANISM TO ITS INOPERATIVE POSITION ANDBIASING SAID LINK UPWARDLY TO CAUSE SAID PEDAL TO BE HELD AGAINST THEUNDERSIDE OF SAID BASE; (F) SAID PEDAL PIVOTING DOWNWARDLY ABOUT ITSREAR EDGE IN RESPONSE TO PRESSURE ON TH FRONT END THEREOF, SAID DOWNWARDMOVEMENT OF SAID PEDAL CAUSING SAID INK TO MOVE DOWN AGAINST THE BIAS OFSAID SPRING MEANS, SAID DOWNWARD MOVEMENT OF SAID LINK PROVIDING SAIDOPERATIVE POSITION OF SAID DOOR-RELEASING MECHANISM.